lessons from a life half lived
Beneath the photo of her flooded home, my friend DeeDee’s June 23, 2016 Facebook status read: “One day can change everything.” My heart sank. Over the course of more than a year, via Instagram, I watched DeeDee and Bobby Lewis build their dream home on the banks of the Elk River in Clay County, West Virginia—the foundation, the framing, the… Continue Reading…
Death and dying freak me out. Scratch that. Death and dying used to freak me out. About a dozen years ago, I lost five loved ones in less than two years: my father-in-law, my grandmother, my aunt, my father, and Nana, my grandmother-in-law. That season pretty much desensitized my death phobia. I was sitting in one of their funerals when… Continue Reading…
Not long ago, to bless our oldest child, I drove her Honda Civic to the carwash down the street. So there I was, popping quarters into the pay-to-vacuum machine, crashing her floor mats together like cymbals, and enthusiastically q-tipping her coin holder slots. Soon after, a twenty-something boy parked next to me. When the vacuum’s roar petered out, he sauntered… Continue Reading…
Not a week goes by that someone doesn’t rave to me or Tony-Bear about how great our kids are. Honestly, I don’t think we can claim all the credit. Besides our efforts, I feel two additional factors were at play. 1) They’re really great kids, and 2) I believe our faith has a lot to do with it. And we… Continue Reading…